1ShoppingCart Review

Overview:

If you’ve been surfing through the entrepreneur webspace for long, you’ve probably come across web.com. But for those who may not know, web.com is a popular resource for people getting their new business endeavors off the ground. The site offers assistance with all kinds of online marketing, from website building, to SEO content, to social media strategies, and now that they have acquired 1Shoppingcart, it provides eCommerce tools.

Because of its relation to web.com, this shopping cart has the somewhat rare ability to connect a prospective business owner with plenty of web development and marketing resources. This may be the biggest reason why 1SC as developed such a loyal following- or it could be attributed to a few shining features which the eCommerce market is learning to demand.

Either way, 1Shoppingcart deserves a look.

Read our full review for the details.

Pricing:

1SC offers an unusually generous trial period. While most shopping cart providers offer something in the vicinity of 14 days, 1SC offers a 1-month free trial. This is potentially great news. I say “potentially,” because it really depends on whether you’re likely to buy in the first place. Those who are likely to decide on 1Shoppingcart will appreciate the copious amount of time to get their store set up and get comfortable with daily tasks before the first bill comes. But if you’re merely test-driving, the “one month free” sounds nice until you start putting in your credit card information (required), knowing that by the end of that free month, you’re likely to forget to cancel the subscription you’re signing up for.

By signing up for a free trial account, “you are agreeing to enroll in a 1ShoppingCart.com “Professional” account with “Plus Support”, at a cost of $139.00 every four weeks” (quoted from their Terms of Service agreement.) The TOS probably needs to be updated to “Premium” plan with “Plus” support, which will likely mean a $129 bill for your second month.

Once you’re ready to commit, here are the plans you may choose from:

• Plus – $59/mo, access to free templates only, 500 products, 1.25% transaction fee, 3GB storage,
• Premium – $119/mo, premium templates, unlimited products, 1% transaction fee, 5GB storage,
• Ultimate – $249/mo, premium templates, unlimited products, .75% transaction fee, 10GB storage,

There are also subscription plans for premium technical support (see below.)

Web-Hosted or Licensed:

1Shoppingcart is web-hosted.

Ease of Use:

It is fairly easy to set up a store and get rolling with basic store operations, especially considering the generous are trial period. If you’re familiar with web programs and basic eCommerce terminology, I suspect you will not need very much onboarding assistance. But no matter how easy some software is, there’s always that one feature you can’t find, or that one quirk you can’t seem to iron out.

Enter 1SC’s training videos. This website does a fantastic job of walking you through the most common features, and most common sticky points. There were a few things that I could not find among the 220+ videos (the difference between the Theme Editor Mode and the Designer Mode, for instance,) but sometimes a little intrepid experimentation can give me an answer. And with the aforementioned 1-month trial window, I have time to tinker.

The design is a bit dated, but that’s not a huge hinderance. The best software developers understand that a little aesthetic TLC can give the user a much more pleasant experience, and therefor, a smoother learning curve. In the middle of my store setup, I wanted to take a break and walk around the block to clear my head a bit, but I was back at it soon enough.

Hardware and Software Requirements:

Since 1Shoppingcart is cloud-based, the only requirement to use it is that you have an updated web browser (Firefox, Safari, and Chrome are recommended) and that you have a reliable high-speed internet connection.

Features:

1SC offers a fairly large suite of features. In fact, most of the features they have are included in every level of subscription. There are a few which are reserved for higher subscription levels, but I felt that these were justifiable, and not a hook to coax users into opting for larger plans. That comparative list of features-per-plan can be found here.

Below, I’ll just highlight what really sets 1Shoppingcart apart.

• Email Autoresponder. It’s kind of silly that this is such a rare feature among shopping carts, since it’s so helpful in an online store’s marketing strategy. Set up marketing emails to go out at specified times, and move clients to various categories when they take pre-set actions.
• Affiliate programs. 1Shoppingcart is designed to enable this increasingly common referral structure, so you can get commissions when your customers make purchases with your business partners.
• Ad Tracking. Admittedly, many shopping carts support this functionality, but few do so natively. 1SC has this reporting built in.
• Sell anything. 1SC is set up to handle physical products, digital downloads, services, and membership subscriptions. You can also set up your products and services with “partial payment” options, and donation options. They are not entirely unique in this, but it’s a strong mark in their favor.

1Shoppingcart recently opened up a blog, where existing users could make feature requests. The suggestions could be sorted by category, popularity, date requested, and status. After a quick browse through the most popular requests, here are a few of the features that are (as yet) missing from 1SC:

• Partial refunds
• Wish lists
• Automations
• Manual order changes
• Custom order receipts
• Inventory control for separate product variants

Web Design:

Front End:

The number of templates available to users is extremely limited (around 20 free and 30 premium templates.) Most were dated and unimpressive.

All subscription levels include a WYSIWYG editor, as well as access to HTML/CSS/Javascript customization.

The theme editor is fairly solid, but that still leaves it in your hands to make your shop really shine. Personally, I’d rather start with a great template, and customize it from there to make it my own.

Back End:

1Shoppingcart is… functional. Not pretty, but functional. User reviews spanned the full spectrum on 1SC’s admin design; some people went out of their way to praise the software for a smooth experience, and others were left bewildered by its layout, the breadth and complexity of its features, and a generally antiquated UX.

Integrations and Add-Ons:

1Shoppingcart is API-enabled, which means that it will integrate with many existing 3rd party apps. In fact, there’s a web page dedicated to getting a developer started.

Though 1SC is surprisingly reticent about the specific apps that will integrate with it, I was able to find this list of confirmed add-ons:

• Google Analytics
• AWeber
• PayPal
• Kajabi
• LeadPages
• OfficeAutoPilot
• Magic Members
• QuickBooks
• Shipwire
• Digioh Knowledge Base

Payment Processing:

1SC is compatible with over 50 leading online merchant account providers, but (of course) it recommends its own affiliate, called Simplify Commerce.

Some common payment methods were glaringly absent, such as Stripe, Google Checkout, and Amazon Payments. Here’s the above-mentioned feature request blog, sorted by Payment Gateways.

Customer Service and Technical Support:

Considering the fact that 1SC has a higher price point than most other carts out there (starting at $59/mo, as compared to Shopify’s $9/mo Lite plan), I can’t help but feel that some kick-butt customer service should be included. I was mildly disappointed. 1SC offers these levels of technical support:

• A “Standard” package is included with every plan, which entails:
  • Phone Support (10am – 8pm Eastern)
  • Email Support (Monday – Friday, 2 day response time)
• “Plus” support is available for $10/mo, and includes:
  • Live Chat
  • Priority email support (7 days a week, 24 hour response time)
• And “Ultimate” support, for an extra $34/mo, includes:
  • Priority queue Phone Support
  • Priority email support (7 days a week, 24 hour response time)
  • Account Setup Assistance
  • Remote Support (30 minutes per month of “do it for me” assistance)

To get connected with technical assistance, here are the available methods:

• Email
• Videos
• Phone
  • Sales and General Questions 1-800-360-3189
  • Service 1-888-792-1961

I found the videos to be well-polished and extensive. This is definitely where I’d spend most of my time and attention if I encountered problems.

Negative Reviews and Complaints:

Gathering the feedback from current and past 1Shoppingcart users, I have kept a running list of the most common complaints. These include:

• Poor design
• High monthly fees
• Transaction fees
• Customer Support at an extra cost
• Free support (user forums) are typically not helpful
• Lacks common automations
• Some common payment gateways not supported

Positive Reviews and Testimonials:

As I suspected, the few-but-true 1SC loyalists all had almost identical praises for the software:

• Built-in Autoresponder features
• Good Affiliate features
• Product type support includes physical sales, digital downloads, services, and subscriptions.

Final Verdict:

In short: if I were building an eCommerce platform for a client, 1Shoppingcart wouldn’t make my “short list” of options. I’m not saying it’s a bad product, however; it does a few things very well, which give it great success among a select few businesses who particularly need those tools. I simply think that ‘most’ businesses will be better served by another cart. (And if you just want an email autoresponder, there are quality alternatives such as AWeber or GetResponse.)

Its few customers (hardly the 3 million they claim to have) are loyal, but as I said, few. The 1Shoppingcart Facebook page is well short of 2k fans. This is peanuts, considering the cart has been around for 15 years.

In December of 2015, Google received only 20 hits for 1Shoppingcart, and those numbers have been consistently trending down since its inception in 2000. From almost all accounts, 1Shoppingcart serves a very narrow market, and it is gradually being eclipsed by the Top 20 shopping cart providers. Its few holdout features are keeping it afloat for now (such as the solid autoresponder, the affiliate functionality, and good ad tracking features.) But I think 1Shoppingcart will wane into obscurity as soon as these features are offered by more savvy services like Shopify.  .

So who would 1Shoppingcart be best suited for?

• Probably not for beginners (due to higher cost, lower design standards, complexity, minimal number of add-ons supported, missing features, missing payment methods)
• Maybe for some mid-sized businesses (for the uncommon affiliate program, ad tracking, call center integration, and autoresponder features)
• Not for most Enterprises (who already have these processes in place, and can create fully customized solutions)

It should be noted that my rating for 1Shoppingcart is not due to any animosity from my experience; I think it’s a solid product in general. My rating comes from how 1SC sits in the market, with peers making simpler, catchier, fully-loaded carts for a fraction of the price. If you think 1Shoppingcart will serve your business well, I have no other objections. Give them a try here.

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